The Florence Nightingale Effect
by Cadid423
Summary: "If you want Justin to take you to Hogsmeade, you musn't ask him out yourself." That statement would sound ridiculous even under the best of circumstances, so it's a true testament to Ernie's default jokeless sincerity that the redheaded half-blood doesn't immediately assume that he's taking the mickey." Susan/Justin. Spin-off of 'Third Times the Charm'.
1. Chapter 1

Title: The Florence Nightingale Effect

Prompt: One of my entries for the 'Your Favorite Hogwarts House Boot Camp Challenge' - Common Room

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is a trademarked brand owned by J.K Rowling and Warner Brothers. Any material used belongs to the aforementioned parties with the exception of two characters of my own creation. This material is only used in recreational purposes and I receive no monetary or material rewards from using it. Please don't sue me.

* * *

"Justin? Hello? Earth to Justin, come in please." Hannah Abbott calls, snapping her fingers in front of her friend's unfocused eyes. "Are you there?"

"Wha- I'm here! The third cycle of Mercury!" Justin answers wildly, looking around the barren common room for Professor Sinistra.

"Justin," Hannah sighs exasperatedly as she closes her textbook, deciding to give up studying for the day. "You're supposed to be helping me with Astronomy! You know, if I wanted to be ignored, I'd just go find Zach."

The boy opposite her slumps forward guiltily, "I'm sorry Hannah," he starts, helping the blonde clean up her supplies. On the table in front of him lies a halfway edited roll of parchment he never finished. The title is partially obscured by a huge blot of red ink from where Justin's quill has dripped while sitting idle in his grasp. "I got distracted."

"It's okay," the blonde says. Her movements are excessively slow as she glances back at the Muggleborn curiously. "Sooooo… What's got you so deep in thought?"

"Nothing!" Justin answers hurriedly. "Just, um, thinking about Easter!"

"Right," she says, eying him with disbelief. "_Easter."_

Justin nods enthusiastically, trying hard not to get caught in a lie. "I mean, it's been so long since I've seen my parents, and it's our turn to throw the Springtime Charity Ball, so I'm really excited to…"

He trails off as Hannah crosses her arms, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"I've still got lots of packing to do?" he offers half-heartedly.

"You did that yesterday," Hannah reminds him, smirking as she calls his bluff. "It's about Susan, isn't it?"

Justin does his best attempt at a poker face, but it must have been pretty shoddy (And honestly, since when has he ever managed to successfully fool Hannah?) because Hannah lets out a girlish squeal, leaning forward excitedly.

"Spill!" she commands.

"Hannnaaaahhhhh!" Justin groans.

The blonde pouts, "Oh come on Justin! I don't have any close girlfriends: I've only got you and Ernie! Humor me, just this once, please?"

"It's not how you think," the dark haired boy grounds out finally, but it just makes Hannah more excited.

"Oh I told Ernie!" Hannah exclaims happily. "Macmillan _sooo_ owes me a pack of sugar quills!"

"I don't fancy Susan," Justin states as firmly as he can.

The other girl waves him off, sure of her observations. "Of course you do."

"No, really I -"Justin insists, but Hannah cuts him off.

"It's because she nursed you back to health, right? It's so _romantic_! I've always suspected but I've never had anything concrete to go off before."

Hannah eyes him again, looking both happily surprised and vaguely impressed. "Ernie makes such a horrible girl; you're _much_ better at this Justin!"

"Thanks," he replies grumpily.

She ignores his ire and leans forward, eyes wide. "Have you asked her out on a date yet?"

Justin decides to give up his poor attempt to deny his feelings. "What! Of course I haven't- Hannah, it's Susan Bones! I can't just go off and ask her to go with me on the next Hogsmead trip!"

"Why not?" Hannah questions.

"It's _Susan Bones_!"

"Yes Justin, I heard you the first time. I don't see the problem."

"It's just…" The tall boy sighs, taking his head in his hands. "It's not as if she likes me back."

For a moment, Hannah stares at her friend as if he'd just expressed a desire to drop out of school and join a biker gang. "No. No! You are _not_ allowed to be this much of an idiot!"

"Hannah!" Justin exclaims.

"I know your best guy friend is Ernie, and he could be the poster child for 'emotionally stunted', but I expected better of you Justin!"

"What're you talking about?"

The blonde shakes her head sadly, patting Justin's hand as if he's a particularly naïve five-year-old.

"Of course Susan likes you! Did you think she plays Florence Nightingale for just any thickheaded prat who comes along?"

_Well_... he hadn't really given the matter much thought."Seriously? I thought she was just being a good friend!" Justin admits, bewildered.

"Are you going to tell her?"

"I don't know! Maybe if she -"

"Tell who, what?" asks a voice from the left.

The duo looks up to find the curious face of Susan Bones staring down at them.

* * *

**It's a cliffhanger ending, but it felt good to end this here. This will probably be about three or four chapters.**


	2. Chapter 2

Title: The Florence Nightingale Effect

Prompt: One of my entries for the 'Your Favorite Hogwarts House Boot Camp Challenge' - Common Room

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is a trademarked brand owned by J.K Rowling and Warner Brothers. Any material used belongs to the aforementioned parties with the exception of two characters of my own creation. This material is only used in recreational purposes and I receive no monetary or material rewards from using it. Please don't sue me.

* * *

Justin can't help the anxiety that fills him as Susan eyes them curiously. It doesn't help that Hannah wears the expression of someone who's just been told that Christmas is coming twice this year.

"Oh hi Susan!" Hannah starts with her usual bubbly attitude. "Fancy seeing you here… right at this _very_ _exact_ _moment_!"

Susan points out the obvious as Justin resists the urge to facepalm. "This is the Hufflepuff Common Room."

Hannah seems unfazed. "Oh yes, of course. But still, it's funny that you would show up right this second, isn't it Justin."Justin would like nothing better than to mumble ineligibly and fiddle with his shirt buttons, but the finely-tuned manners that are practically engraved into his eyelids force him to answer with a complete sentence.

"Umm, yes. What an odd coincidence."

Hannah's Cheshire-like grin only grows at his response. "_Especially_ considering our previous conversation."

She stands, glancing at her bare wrist. "Look at the time! I've got to… go to class! Yeah, that's where I'm going! But you should really stay and talk to Justin, Susan. He's, um, nice! and… yeah. Gotta go!"

Justin bites back a groan as the blonde scurries off. He loves Hannah like a sister, but subtle she is not.

Susan throws an amused look towards Hannah's retreating form. "She always like that, isn't she?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Justin admits, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry about that."

Susan seats herself in the chair Hannah's just vacated. "I don't mind; at least not as long as you answer my question."

Justin already knows what the redhead is referring to, but he asks her to repeat herself in order to put off answering for another five seconds.

"What _were_ you guys talking about?"

The Muggleborn resigns himself to answering, but realizes halfway through his sentence that Susan isn't Hannah, and therefore probably doesn't have her freaky lie/fib/half truth-detector. "Hannah was, well, she was sort of interrogating me about yo… "

"What was that?" she asks hopefully.

"About, um, yo... ga, yoga," he lies uncertainly.

"Yoga?" It might be his imagination, but for a second Susan looks slightly disappointed. He's not entirely sure though, because he blinks and her grin is back in full force.

"What are they saying?" Hannah whispers harshly as she watches the pair from across the room. Next to her, Ernie moves the fern obstructing his gaze.

"No idea."

"Ernie! You have better ears than I do, and we can't get much closer without showing ourselves."

"I don't know," he starts again with forced calmness, "Because I can't hear them over the sound of your humming."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't even realize I was- wait… Darn, Justin just lied to Susan."

There's a moment of silence before: "How can you possibly know that?"

"Can't you tell? When he speaks it's just like a- Susan isn't even calling him out on it!"

"Okay, now you're just making stuff up."

"No, really!" Hannah insists. "Justin _was_ telling the truth, but now he's lying through his teeth."

The blonde huffs, irritated with her stubborn friend. "Why is he lying through his teeth?"

This was a rhetorical question, but knowing Ernie as she does, it's not a surprise that he answers anyway.

"Well what did you expect?" Ernie asks incredulously. "If what you were telling me as you dragged me from Gobstones was accurate, you pretty much manhandled Justin into telling you what you wanted to hear, and you _know_ he hates being put on the spot." He eyes Hannah again suspiciously. "Also, you don't win the bet until Justin backs up your claim."

Hannah rolls her eyes but doesn't argue. "It seemed like a perfect opportunity! I mean, if he could tell _me_ about his feelings so easily, then he should_ obviously_ be able to tell Susan. He kept giving me all these lame excuses about why he couldn't ask her on a date, and then she just showed up, so I thought…" She trails off at Ernie's disbelieving look.

"Well if you know so much, what would you have done?" she asks defensively.

"What are you asking me for? I'm _emotionally stunted_, remember?"

"Oh please Ernie: you know it's true. And just because _you_ don't like to express yourself doesn't mean you don't understand _Justin. _Why would he lie to Susan?

Ernie opens his mouth to respond, but it's not his voice that answers.

"He probably wouldn't of had to if one of his best friends hadn't thrown him to the proverbial wolves." Justin looks amused and exasperated instead of angry as he kneels in front of them.

Ernie can't help his surprise. "How did you know we were over here?"

Justin rolls his eyes. "It's not as if the Den has an abundance of hiding places: the only thing even close is ducking behind all the plants Professor Sprout likes to decorate with, and you two weren't exactly making a great effort to lower your voices."

He looks between the two again, this time his expression slightly chiding. "You do realize that it's rude to eavesdrop, right?"

"If it makes you feel any better mate, I was taken against my will," Ernie offers, but Hannah quickly cuts to the chase.

"How did it go?" she asks eagerly.

Justin sighs as his hands clench at his sides. Hannah thinks he's resisting the urge to rub at his temples in frustration, and that makes her feel a bit guilty.

"Sort of… not well," he admits.

He turns his attention back to Hannah. "If Susan asks you about it, you are extremely interested in taking up yoga, and asked me to ask my mother for a recommendation," he instructs.

Ernie winces. "That bad huh?"

"I don't think she completely bought it, but she was good enough not to press the issue." He stands and stretches before reaching back down to help his friends to their feet. Hannah can tell that Justin has something else to say, but she waits (rather patiently in her opinion) for the Muggleborn to continue.

"I think she's going to sit with us on the train though," he adds almost as an afterthought, a slightly goofy grin overtaking his features.

Hannah smiles and claps her hands together excitedly. "Oh Justin! You're making progress!"

She turns to Ernie, unable to resist. "I told you it was a good idea!"

* * *

**Hope you guys like this chapter! Up next: Ernie attempts to give Susan advice on understanding Justin's behavior. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

Title: The Florence Nightingale Effect

Prompt: One of my entries for the 'Your Favorite Hogwarts House Boot Camp Challenge' - Common Room

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is a trademarked brand owned by J.K Rowling and Warner Brothers. Any material used belongs to the aforementioned parties with the exception of two characters of my own creation. This material is only used in recreational purposes and I receive no monetary or material rewards from using it. Please do not sue me.

* * *

About two weeks after the end of Easter holidays Ernie Macmillan staggers the Hufflepuff Common Room, mentally fatigued from a three-hour OWL study session in the library. As he surveys the area for a suitable place to flop down in exhaustion, Ernie can't help but notice that Susan Bones sits by herself at corner table, looking more than a bit dejected.

And Ernie's 99.9% positive that he knows what's caused the normally outspoken redhead to fold in on herself, but it takes him a moment to decide what to do about it. He ponders this conundrum for a brief moment: _'A: it's none of my business, b: I'm much too tired to attempt to politely deliver news that will probably not be well received, and c: it's none of my business.'_

In the end though, Ernie chooses to ignore this well thought-out reasoning and starts walking in Susan's direction, because that's what Hannah would do, and she's the one with all the experience in these sort of 'emotional' situations.

"Hi Susan." The half-blood looks up from her doodling when she hears her name, but if she's surprised to see Ernie standing there she doesn't show it.

"Ernie," she neutrally, not annoyed by his presence but not particularly enthused to see him either

He fidgets, feeling awkward. "Can I, uh, sit down?"

Susan turns back to the piece of parchment in front of her. "Sure."

The stout teen glances briefly at the three other unoccupied chairs before choosing the one directly across from her, and as he settles himself, Ernie is suddenly struck by the realization that he has absolutely no idea how to go about this. Sure, he and Susan have become much better friends this year through mutual participation in the DA, but they're _definitely_ not close enough to be on the confess-all-of-your-troubles-to-me level.

Ernie decides not to beat around the bush. "Justin's upset you, hasn't he?" he says bluntly.

Susan glances up again, her blue eyes meeting his gray ones calmly, but she neither confirms nor denies Ernie's accusation.

Ernie continues, too used to the redhead's trademarked unphasable poker face to be deterred by her lack of an outward response. "He's too nice to have done something on purpose, and I can't imagine that Justin's manners would allow him to be oblivious enough to slight you accidentally," Ernie says, crossing possibilities and variations off his mental checklist as he speaks. "The only situation even half-way believable is that Justin hasn't actually done anything wrong but you're upset with him anyway, which doesn't make a lick of sense but sounds like the sort of mental thing a girl would do, so that's probably what happened."

The silence that follows is tense and uncomfortable. Perhaps this was a bad idea.

"What do you want Ernie?" Susan asks finally.

'_A nap,'_ Ernie thinks sullenly, but he's not about to be mean to the girl his best mate fancies, _especially_ after that display, so he says something else. "You looked depressed and I felt morally obligated to try to cheer you up."

"Because you're doing such an _excellent_ job in that respect."

Ernie doesn't miss the similarities between this statement and his earlier thoughts. "Okay, point taken. But seriously though, it's Justin, isn't it?"

Susan hesitates before answering, but her obvious frustration overpowers Ernie's emotional awkwardness and the oddness of the situation. "I just don't know what else to do: I've pulled every trick in the book trying to get Justin to ask me to the next Hogsmeade trip. I thought at first that maybe…" Susan looks particularly reluctant here, "Maybe he didn't like me the way I liked him, but Hannah assured me that he did, and if anyone would know, it would be Hannah. I even tried simply asking him out myself but –"

"-every time you try he makes up some excuse and rushes off before you can finish the question," Ernie finishes with a knowing look.

Susan nods earnestly. "Yes, exactly! How did you…?"

"It's not anything you've done," Ernie reassures firmly. "Well, actually it _is_ what you've done, but you couldn't of…" He trails off, unsure of how much he can tell Susan without betraying Justin's confidence.

"It's not your fault," he says once again, because if the way Susan's expression faded from bewilderment to sorrow during his prolonged silence is anything to judge by, it's important he makes sure that this point gets across.

Ernie can't help but frown when the redhead's expression stays sad. "Can I give you some advice?"

"There's only so many times a girl can watch the boy she fancies run from her like she's got spattergroit before she starts to feel insecure. I'll take anything you're willing to give."

"If you want Justin to take you to Hogsmeade, you musn't ask him out yourself." That statement would sound ridiculous even under the best of circumstances, so it's a true testament to Ernie's default jokeless sincerity that the redheaded half-blood doesn't immediately assume that he's taking the mickey.

Instead, she leans forward, a sight crease between her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

Ernie's not really sure how to go about explaining this, but he makes a genuine effort. "Justin is kind of old fashioned. His family's really important back in the Muggle world, important enough for him to basically be the Muggleborn equivalent of Malfoy, so ever since he could talk he's been taught all these rules and guidelines until they became as natural as breathing."

He pauses to make sure Susan's following before continuing. "I suspect that a large part of that training is the way a gentleman acts towards a lady. I'm sure you've noticed how Justin always opens doors and pulls out chairs for Hannah?"

"He carries my books for me when we walk to class together," Susan offers as an example, her smile clearly admiring.

Ernie resists the urge to roll his eyes at her dreamy expression. "Er, right. Well this is just a guess mind you, but based on the way Justin's been acting around you lately and how he behaves towards women in general, I'm pretty sure I know what's going on."

Ernie's so tired that he can't even bring himself to pause dramatically before he reveals his information. "When it comes to a relationship, or at least the first date, Justin believes that it's the guy who should ask out the girl."

Susan still looks a bit confused. "Then why hasn't he asked me already?"

Ernie can't help the eye roll this time. Hasn't she been listening? "He's been waiting for the 'proper moment'," he explains, feeling as though this should be obvious. "But you're not making things easy on the poor chap."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asks, looking affronted.

"You know how Hannah doesn't handle stress well?" Susan nods firmly, clearly remembering the blonde witch's recent outburst in Herbology. "Justin's the same way, only with pressure. He hates feeling pressured or put on the spot, and I know you didn't mean to, but that's how you've been making him feel by being so… pushy."

Susan opens her mouth in outrage, clearly offended by the slightly unflattering but accurate description, but Ernie continues before she can lay into him. "He's been really nervous you know, trying to work up the courage to ask you out, so when you keep cornering and hinting at him, he feels even_ more_ pressure to make sure that the moment he chooses is perfect, so instead of possibly messing things up and risking rejection -"

"- he chooses to abandon ship instead." Susan finishes slowly, finally making the connection.

She frowns. "But- But that's ridiculous!"

"That's Justin," Ernie replies with a shrug. "He _will _ask you out eventually Susan, but you've got to be patient and give him some space."

Susan smiles sheepishly. "I think… I think that Hannah tried to tell me that. She said something like 'Don't talk to Justin, let Justin talk to you,' but I can see now that I didn't really understand what she was trying to say, though I don't think she could have possibly been more obscure."

She shakes her head as if that will clear the memory from her brain. Ernie stands as she does so, more than happy to leave her to her thoughts. He's halfway to the boy's dormitories before Susan realizes he's moved.

"Ernie!" she calls. The fifth-year turns back, one foot already through the barreled entrance to the hallway.

Her smile is fond and her message is simple. "Thanks."

Ernie grins back, suddenly feeling as though his effort was worth the slight delay. "No problem."

* * *

**I think... this is done! I considered very, very briefly to include a fourth chapter from Susan's POV, but I like the idea of ending the story here. :) Thanks to everyone who read or reviewed! - Cadid423**


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